Shattered Innocence
by TheSecretAuthorForever
Summary: On a hot summer day in NYC, the Newsies are ending another day of selling papes to the average day citizen of New York, but when Les gets to the point of Over exhaustion due to the heat and the rapid activity he's done all day, a certain friend starts worrying about him.


"Hey Davey!" Jack yelled as he strolled on up to David and Les. "What's going on?"

It was a couple weeks since the Newsies had prevailed over Pulitzer and the strike had ended. The daily activities had returned to the norm and the newsies were going 'round each day trying to sell their papes to the public people who surround them. News quickly spread about the Newsies actually winning anything as a result of their strike, and it mostly wasn't by the Newspaper.

Even after the events were settled, The Newsies had made their voices heard to the public of New York City and all that surrounds it. They wanted to know that the big man does not always win every battle.

It was a stuffy summer day in New York City, the heat beated down upon all that lived and it could at times be unbearable. The places that had any kind of heat dispersing cooling were the hot place to be at the time, but as everything goes in life, only the wealthy would ever be given the leisure of the time to be given all treatment possible to stop the heating ailment that they faced.

Wealthy people, the exact opposite of Jack, David, and Les.

"Well, we just have a couple papes left for the day, We don't know if we can find anyone" David said to Jack wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Well, how about that 40 or so woman down the street, she doesn't seem to have a pape" Jack said trying to be as showoffy as possible, it was a constant character trait of him, especially since he was the main leader of the Strike.

Les quickly grabbed one of the papers that David was holding and ran over to the woman, Jack and David watched as the woman looked at Les flipped him a coin. Les quickly handed over the paper to the woman and she walked off without even looking at it.

As Les walked back, Jack yelled out to him "What trick you use this time? Sick, Poor, Both?"

Les walked back slowly, his shirt showing the sweat stains that had accumulated during the day. Les had been busy all day, running around to different people trying to sell his papers with the most option result being a decline because of the person already getting sold a paper by another Newsies earlier day. The woes of being 20 minutes to Paper Pick up for the day.

Les didn't even want to speak to his brother and friend. He was just too worn out from the day. He was able to squeak out two words. "I'm Finished as he walked over to the wall of a building nearby and sat by it, closing his eyes.

"Les!" David quickly exclaimed as he ran over to his brother. "Let's go home, you need to rest"

"Let him rest Davey!" Jack said as he walked over calmly. "He's had a long day, just let him sleep, we all do it once in awhile."

Jack could remember back in the past, when he was still a relatively new Newsies around the New York City Street. It was before he had the reputation that he had today. His parents were still alive and not in jail, it was a simple family. He was about 9 at the time when his mother became sick, but she was still adamant about his wellbeing. All of a sudden, he remembered a simple trick that helped when overexpansion had taken over.

"Davey, take Les's shirt off will ya'? I read that somewhere, it helps" Jack said to Davey, looking at the situation.

"You actually read somethin? That ain't the news? Heck, you barely even read the news, heck you barely can read" David said to Jack not sure about the suggestion.

"Just trust me" Jack said with that smirk that David hated. That smirk that made Jack seem like a god when compared to all others. That smirk that showed dominance.

David looked at Les and put his hand on Les's forehead. His forehead was burning hot, the heat was getting to Les hard. He then, reluctantly, moved his hands down to the bottom of Les's torso and started to lift up Les's shirt. He was going slowly, making sure not to disturb Les as he relaxed next to that wall. Les was still awake but wasn't going to fight what David was doing. He heard Jack and he trusted him.

As David slowly moved up Les's shirt up the torso, Jack quickly walked over to David to make the process go quicker. To David's surprise Jack had also taken off his shirt because he was also getting quite sweaty under the shirt he was wearing. Jack shoved David to the side and quickly moved his hands to Les's shirt, but instead of taking it off by general means, he instead just found a weak seam and tore the shirt in half, exposing Les's chest.

Les was still a young boy and his chest was excellent proof. His 9 year old body was still hairless on his chest, his nipples a shade darker than the rest of his plain pale white skin. He had the formation of a six pack that was not quite fully formed as of yet, but it was on its way. It all, his chest showed that he was a healthy and active 9 year old boy.

Les still laid there, his eyes closed but his brain still awake. He was just listening to what was going on around him. He felt the fresh air come across his chest and he let out a sigh of relief into the air. Jack smiled at the sight of it. "Thanks... Jack" Les quietly said as he soon fell asleep next to that wall. Jack picked up Les and signaled to David that he wanted to bring Les back home.

David and Jack walked back to David's home. Les still in Jack's hands. They eventually got there and they entered the doorway. Sitting near the window sat Sarah Jacobs, her and Jack have been in a relationship since the days of the strike and it was still going on. David was still unsure about his sister being in a romantic relationship with his best friend. He meant well for it, it was his sister, his family member, he couldn't say no, and if he did, losing the friendship with Jack was too much of a risk to take.

Sarah was sitting by the window reading a book when she looked over to the doorway and saw Jack carrying her little brother into the main room. She quickly stood up and walked over to the boys walking in. "What happened to Les?!" She exclaimed.

"He just got a bit over exhausted from today's work, that's all" Jack said as they put Les in his bed so that he could rest. They decided it was for the best if they didn't put the covers on him as the excessive heat was still trying to disperse from his body.

"Where's Mom and Pops?" David asked his sister. They were usually home around five o'clock.

"They went to eat dinner at Frank's Diner, part of Papa's new job, their boss is taking up the tab." Sarah said back. "I hope this new job works out for Pops". It was only recently that the Jacob's dad had finally recovered from his injury and he was extremely lucky to get a job again. He had gotten a job in a mill nearby the city. It was an hour commute by horse, but it was a job and he was lucky enough that he was allowed to live outside the workplace. The best part was that his boss was very wealthy and giving on certain occasions, such as a new employee working for his family. The boss was a family man. It was the ultimate ideal situation for the Jacob's family.

"Then what are we supposed to eat?" David said back.

"They left us a nickel, should be able to get us something" Sarah said.

During this conversation, Jack was sitting on Les's bed, hand on Les's head. "You'll be fine little buddy" he whispered near Les's ear.


End file.
